nounEtymology: Middle English junipere, from Latin juniperusDate: 14th century1.a. any of numerous shrubs or trees (genus Juniperus) of the cypress family with leaves resembling needles or scales and female cones usually resembling berries
b. the berrylike cone or fruit of a juniper; especially the bluish one of a common juniper (J. communis) which is used to flavor foods and from which is obtained an acrid essential oil used especially as a flavoring in gin and liqueurs — called also juniper berry2. any of several coniferous trees resembling true junipers

Juniper — Ju ni*per, n. [L. juniperus, prop., youth producing, and so called from its evergreen appearance, from the roots of E. juvenile, and parent. Cf. {Gin} the liquor.] (Bot.) Any evergreen shrub or tree, of the genus {Juniperus} and order… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

Juniper — f English: from the name of the plant (derived in the Middle Ages from Late Latin junipērus, of uncertain origin). The term is also used in the Authorized Version of the Old Testament as a translation of Hebrew rothem, a substantial desert shrub… … First names dictionary

juniper — /jooh neuh peuhr/, n. 1. any evergreen, coniferous shrub or tree of the genus Juniperus, esp. J. communis, having cones that resemble dark blue or blackish berries used in flavoring gin and in medicine as a diuretic. 2. a tree mentioned in the… … Universalium

JUNIPER — The juniper is the biblical berosh (Heb. בְּרוֹשׁ) or berot (Heb. בְּרוֹת; Song 1:17), wrongly used in modern Hebrew for the cypress (the AV translation of rotem as juniper is not acceptable). Beroshim are frequently mentioned in the Bible,… … Encyclopedia of Judaism